The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the use of temsirolimus (Torisel) for the treatment of a type of advanced kidney cancer known as renal cell carcinoma. A study has shown that the drug, an enzyme inhibitor, prolonged survival in patients with advanced kidney cancer.

Renal cell carcinoma accounts for about 85% of all U.S. adult kidney cancer and is diagnosed in about 51,000 people annually. A clinical trial tested 626 patients with the disease, dividing them into three groups. One group received temsirolimus alone, another received interferon alfa, and another received both temsirolimus and interferon. The patients who received temsirolimus alone showed a median survival rate of 10.9 months compared with 7.3 months for those on interferon alone. The combination of temsirolimus and interferon didn't result in a significant increase in survival when compared with interferon alone.

Temsirolimus is one of three new drugs recently approved for use in the treatment of kidney cancer.